Service creation environment (Meta Model Editor)

ABSTRACT

Data base admin uses Explorer-style interface with topic tree configurable though Meta Model Editor (GUI) with immediate effect on actual program rather than requiring software code changes. All changes are saved as “data”. All data is displayed as “Grid” or as “Property Sheet”, with GUI to: 
     a. change display capabilities, 
     b. change validation, and 
     c. change defaults.

This application is a divisional of 09/163,628 filed Sep. 30, 1998.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Enhanced services telephone systems such as prepaid calling systems arewell known. Subscribers in such systems are provided with a calling cardcontaining a personal identification number (“PIN”) by which the amountof telephone usage remaining on the card can be determined by thesubscriber at the time the call is placed.

In known prepaid telephone systems, there are a number of work stationsto assist the service provider in performing the various functionsneeded for the operation of the system. These functions include (a) theadministration of the subscriber database which controls callutilization, (b) the interface with the customer regarding the balancein the subscriber's account, the status of the account and recharging ofprepaid cards by a subscriber, (c) the live operators who assist in theplacing of the calls, and (d) system administration which often spansmultiple servers and even multiple locations.

Heretofore, to modify these functions or to add new functions to theprepaid system required the loading of new software or the rewriting ofthe existing code. Clearly the time and expense of implementing thechange impacted the ability of such systems to respond to growth in thesystem, the changing needs of subscribers, etc.

The present invention addresses these problems by providing a method ofaltering the functionality within a system by modifying the data insteadof code.

Additionally, the configuration of each of the high level functions maybe selectively customized by means of a user configurable table, inwhich the settings used to reconfigure the software are recorded as datathus obviating the necessity to load an additional program and/orrewriting code.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novelmethod and system which obviates many of the problems of known telephonesystems with great financial and temporal savings.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel methodand system which permits a single computer software program to be usedfor all workstations in the system.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novelmethod and system which permits the computer software program to bemodified by business analysts rather than engineers or othertechnicians, all without the necessity to modify the software program.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novelsoftware program that reduces retraining requirements by using a singleprogram having a basically consistent user interface to implementdatabase changes for all functions.

It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a novelmethod and system which reduces system ownership costs due to themultiple functions which can be performed on a single workstation.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a novelsystem and method to allow the customer to add functions to the systemin such a way that these functions appear well integrated in the userinterface.

These and many other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which theinvention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the appended drawings,and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the basic organization ofthe enhanced services system of the present invention in the embodimentof a prepaid telephone system.

FIG. 2 illustrates the representative topic tree and browser for aDB-Admin application.

FIGS. 3-5 illustrate representative browser windows for one embodimentof the present invention.

FIGS. 6-7 illustrate the browser entries necessary to generate thedisplays of FIGS. 1 and 8.

FIG. 8 illustrates a modification window associated with the DB-Adminapplication of FIG. 2.

FIG. 9 illustrates representative picklists which may be associated withthe browser window of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention finds applicability in an enhanced servicesenvironment such as the prepaid telephone system illustrated in FIG. 1.FIG. 1 shows a suitable conventional telephone switch 26 such as theHarris Corporation 20/20 switch in a conventional public switchedtelephone network (PSTN) connected to large numbers of subscribertelephones such as the caller telephones 24 and the called partytelephones 14. Also connected to the switch 26 may be a bank of voiceresponse units (VRUs) 15 on which the prepaid call processingapplication 18 resides.

The management of a prepaid system is generally under the control of acall processing application resident within the VRU. The call processingapplication, in association with peripheral equipment, determines theaction to be taken (e.g., determining the correctness of a PIN entry,the prompting of users for destination numbers or desired services,outdialing to a requested telephone number, etc.) during the processingof a call request.

In addition to the hardware and software requirements of the prepaidsystem, a large personnel support group comprising databaseadministrators, system administrators, customer service representativesand live operators is required to assist the service provider inperforming the various functions needed for the operation of the system.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the personnel supportdivisions use a common software application (“DB-Admin”) 22 to configurethe prepaid database 20 and perform the various administrative functionsassociated with the prepaid system. As illustrated in FIG. 2, DB-Admin22 uses an Explorer-style interface that contains a Topic Tree 10 and aBrowser 12 with the Browser 12 displaying data associated with aselected topic from the Topic Tree 10 in either a “grid” (as shown) or a“property sheet” format.

The content and “look and feel” of DB-Admin is created through the useof a Service Creation Environment (“Meta Model Editor”). The Meta ModelEditor allows a system user to “alter” DB-Admin through the manipulationof data instead of the modifying of code thereby obviating the need forengineers. A separate database, MME database 21 (see FIG. 1), isassociated with the Meta Model Editor and is responsible for driving thedisplay of the DB-Admin. Objects contained within the MME database 21control the DB-Admin displays (Topic Tree and Browser) responsive touser input. The Meta Model Editor allows the user to be broughtstep-by-step through the process of making a complex change to theDB-Admin database. Changes made to the DB-Admin database are continuallydrawn into/associated with the objects of the MME database 21; nocompilation process is required.

The Meta Model Editor is used to configure both the Topic Tree 10 andthe Browser 12 of DB-Admin. As the MME objects controlling thesedisplays are continually updated, changes made through the Meta ModelEditor to the topic tree 10 and Browser 12 take immediate effect on theactual DB-Admin program. For example, if the two programs (DB-Admin andMME) were placed side by side, changes made by a “business analyst” inthe Meta Model Editor would be immediately reflected in DB-Admin uponthe next click of the DB-Admin Topic Tree 10.

To facilitate the use of the Meta Model Editor by DB-Admin users, theuser interface to the Meta Model Editor is the same as that provided forDB-Admin. The Meta Model Editor differs however from DB-Admin in thepreferred embodiment in that five browsers are provided with the MetaModel Editor. These five browsers, defining the scope or breadth ofconfigurability within the Service Creation Environment, determine thedata set to be displayed in the DB-Admin Topic Tree and Browser(including the sort order), the format of the DB-Admin Brower (grid orproperty sheet), captions (i.e., labels) for all fields and for theDB-Admin browser as a whole, the format of each field, drop-down comboboxes to support entry in each field, edit-masks to filter entry in eachfield, the default column width for each field, and record modification(add, delete, update) and associated special dialog links.

The first browser (“Browser 1”) defines the DB-Admin topic tree and theprimary data table or grid for the DB-Admin browser including the effectof clicking the left and right mouse buttons on any selected topic orfield. A typical window associated with Browser 1 is illustrated in FIG.3.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the second browser (“Browser 2”) defines thetable or view to be displayed. It determines the table caption, whetherthe table is editable, and what should appear on a pop-up menu if theuser presses the right-mouse button.

The third browser (“Browser 3”) defines the fields to be displayed inany grid including their captions, display formats, edit masks, picklists, alignment, visibility, and editability.

The fourth browser (“Browser 4”) defines the fields which will be seenin a grid field's pick list. It also tells the system how to order therows and which field in the pick list (visible or not) will be pulledinto the grid.

The final browser (“Browser 5”) defines the validation rules for theindividual fields. For example, a validation rule may require that an“end date” cannot precede a “start date”.

With reference again to FIG. 2, DB-Admin browser 12 is displaying thedata associated with the selected HOLIDAY sub-topic in the topic tree10. In one embodiment of the present invention, to add a sub-topic tothe DB-Admin topic tree 10, the user would click the right mouse buttonon the desired “parent” topic, in this case the System Configurationtopic, resulting in the display of the Meta Model Editor Browser 1window illustrated in FIG. 6.

As shown in FIG. 6, Browser 1 defines the topic to be displayed in thetopic tree 10 (“Holidays”), the number of fields to be displayed in anyassociated view (“2”), the effect of clicking the left mouse buttonafter selecting the new sub-topic (i.e., the display of the data in thebrowser 12 in a grid format), and the effect of clicking the right mousebutton after selecting the new sub-topic (i.e., the display of a modifydata window in a property sheet format).

After the user fills in the appropriate information and clicks the OKbutton, the Browser 2 windows shown in FIG. 7 are displayedconsecutively (one window for each field defined in Browser 1). TheseBrowser 2 windows define the fields to be displayed in either thebrowser 12 (if “Holidays” is selected with left mouse button) or themodification window (if “Holidays” is selected with the right mousebutton) as defined in the Browser 1 window (FIG. 6). The Browser 2windows define two fields “Holiday” and “Date”, the “Holiday” fieldhaving a specified column width while the “Date” field defaults to theremaining area, neither field having a pick list, and with each fieldhaving an edit mask, alphabetical and numerical respectively.

The browser 12 of FIG. 2 and the Add/Modify Systems Holiday window 40 ofFIG. 8 illustrate how the information defined in Browsers 1 and 2 aredisplayed in the DB-Admin application.

FIG. 9 shows another DB-Admin modification window having pick listsassociated with the field entries. These pick lists would be governed byBrowser 3 and defined through a Browser 3 window similar to thatillustrated in FIG. 5.

By removing object properties to a database, the present inventionprovides a programming tool at the application level for use by an enduser. Further, to facilitate use, the present invention provides acommon interface for both modifying and using applications.

While preferred embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed, it is to be understood that the embodiments described areillustrative only and the scope of the invention is to be defined solelyby the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence, manyvariations and modifications naturally occurring to those of skill inthe art from a perusal hereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A telephone system comprising: a telephone switchconnected to a plurality of subscriber telephones; means for callprocessing subscriber telephone calls; a first database containingsubscriber information; means for providing subscriber information tosaid call processing means; display means to display information in saidfirst database in a definable format; a second database containingmodifiable objects which define the format of information displayed insaid display means; editing means for modifying the objects contained insaid second database; and means responsive to the modification of theobjects contained in the second database to thereby modify the format ofthe displayed information; wherein said display means includes a leastone browser and displays a plurality of topics in a topic tree andconfigurable data associated with each of the plurality of topics, andwherein the topic tree of said display means provides access to the datadisplayed in any browser associated therewith to thereby permitconfiguration of the displayed data; and said editing means controls theformat of the display topics and configuration and selection of theconfigurable data displayed by said display means.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein said display means and said editing means utilize acommon user interface.
 3. The system of claim 1 wherein said editingmeans comprises means for defining the topic tree and the primary datatable or grid by means of a pop-up menu identifying the number andidentity of the sources of data; means for defining the table or view tobe displayed to include the table caption, whether the table iseditable, and what should appear on a pop-up menu if the user pressesthe right-mouse button; means for defining the fields to be displayed inany grid including the fields' captions, display formats, edit masks,pick lists, aligment, visibility, and editability; means for definingthe fields which will be seen in a grid field's pick list, how to orderthe rows of the grid, and which field in the pick list (visible or not)will be pulled into the grid; and means for defining the validationrules for the individual fields.
 4. The system of claim 1 wherein topictree of the display means includes a menu for altering the topic tree byadding, deleting and/or moving topics displayed on the tree.